Christmas Eve Part II

After brunch with the Barnes family, we headed to Mimi and Papa's house for Christmas Eve dinner. When we got there, I saw a gingerbread house kit and asked if we were making another?! Luckily this one was MUCH easier (the icing is pre-made and you only have to wait 15 minutes for the house to set up! phew.) Uncle Andy built the house while Claire pre-licked every single piece of candy.

We all helped out and I think it turned out great! (Apparently Andy's cat Ace thinks so too...he was snacking on it today!)

We took some photos of the kids for Mom's New Years Card....this one is NOT it, but we all thought it was hilarious. Claire's having a craaaazy Christmas this year :-)



After a delicious dinner we let the kids open a few presents and stockings from Mimi. Why not spread it out and let the kids really enjoy each gift!

Claire got a new animal magazine called Zoo Babies from Uncle Andy and Aunt Tara and this adorable apron! Fielder got this floor mat from "Replacements Ltd" and he loves it! It's so fun now that he can look at toys. He also loves to look at himself in the mirror :-)

Rob and I even got to open a gift that night....2 new chairs from Andy and Tara since we're "a family of four and now we need more!" Woo hoo, that's 2 less folding chairs we'll need at the dining room table!

We had a great day and so much fun with both sides of the family. Rob and I took 2 tired-out kids home so we could get some sleep and wait for Santa to come. It was a little nuts when we got home, but we got all the important tasks done: we left a"donut" and milk for Santa along with a note dictated by Claire, we put a carrot on the front porch for Rudolph and sprinkled reindeer food all over the front yard, and we read The Night Before Christmas! Here's the note left by Claire:

Dear Santa,

Please give me animal critters. Would you like the donut? Tomorrow is going to be Jesus' birthday and all the people will be there and all the animals and baby Jesus. Thank you Santa.

Love,

Claire